News

Ha Noi, 9 February 2018 – UNESCO and the Department of Science, Technology and Environment (DSTE) under the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) conducted a series of training workshops in Da Nang, Ha Noi, and Ho Chi Minh City for educational policy makers and authorities. These workshops were held within the framework of “Strengthening Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Policy in Viet Nam” funded by the Japanese Funds-in-Trust (JFIT).

Some 150 participants from all three regions (North, Central and South) of Viet Nam, including policy makers from the Departments and Bureaus of Education and Training, school managers, students and lecturers from Universities and Teacher Training Institutions, were provided with essential knowledge of sustainable development and the concept of ESD. The participants were also introduced to two key outputs of the aforementioned project: (1) ESD Policy Brief that provides an insight into Viet Nam’s ESD policies, their achievements, shortfalls and opportunities for further improvements; (2) ESD Advocacy Kit that guides educational stakeholders to review ESD policies if the current ones at their level (i.e. provincial and district levels) have ESD themes considered and integrated and how to advance ESD policies at different levels. The workshops were organized in an interactive manner and all participants were split into groups to actively engage in discussions on ESD policies in Viet Nam and to do exercises on using the ESD Advocacy Kit. All of the three workshops provided substantial inputs for the finalization of these two important documents.

Dr. Le Trong Hung, Director General of DSTE – Coordinating Agency of the Project stated in his opening speech for the training in Ha Noi that, ESD is the key to achieving the internationally agreed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by “empowering learners to take informed decisions and responsible actions for environmental integrity, economic viability and a just society, for present and future generations, while respecting cultural diversity”. It is an integral part of quality education that requires the involvement of various stakeholders to effectively integrate ESD into educational activities at schools.

Participants of the training workshops were interviewed before and after the training as pre-and post-test. As a result, they were found to show their great appreciation for the workshops that helped them to acquire better understanding of ESD principles and gain initial ideas to promote ESD in their own work. Ms. Mai Thi Nhung from the Bureau of Education and Training of Hai Ba Trung District said that, “In light of the forthcoming comprehensive education reform, I am very excited but at the same time worried about how this education reform achieves its objectives. However, thanks to this workshop, I am now clear that education needs to focus on equipping learners with knowledge of sustainable development. This is extremely important for our future generations”. Besides, a lot of participants expressed the hope for having more trainings on ESD in the future for more educators especially in the current context which triggers the needs for integrating sustainable development issues in educational activities.

For more information, please contact Ms. Binh Le, National Programme Officer for ESD Project at lt.binh(at)unesco.org , and visit our Facebook page @UNESCOOfficeinVietnam

URL:

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/hanoi/about-the-ha-noi-office/single-view/news/moet_and_unesco_conduct_a_series_of_esd_policy_advancing_wor/